So I wished I was joining this forum under better circumstances, but unfortunately as my luck may have it I'm not...

So basically, I bought my bike ('97 Suzuki Savage LS 650 with 6k miles) in sept 09 from a buddy of mine, rode it in 09 for 700 miles filled it up with gas 100% added some stabilizer (just in case) unplugged gas tube from carb and clogged/clamped it, and ran the engine till it died... stored in heated garage for winter. I had my charger on the battery all winter, went to go start the bike 2 week ago and my battery died, oh well nuts happens I bought a new battery, got it wed installed bike started and ran fine... rode it in 2 days 240 miles or so, and gassed up twice... last night I gassed up at shell, rode home np... today... got on the bike, 10miles after, bike starts backfireing weirdly (in the engine as in kind of dying off for a split sec then lunging forward) I figured maybe I was feeling this, who knows... rode for 30 miles, kept happening and I ignored it.... happened once more, loud POP 2 miles down the road, bike cut off... started the f**ker up, rode for 1/2mile, died... I was pissed and on a busy intersection... started er' up again, rode for 1/2mile died... (side note to HD guys, they are loyal bikers, they saw me on side of road and stopped to help!)  anyways, I got the bike to my friends house (barely) kept the rev's at I'd say 3-4k if I had to feel it on 3rd gear (was running loud but better than dying out on busy intersection) I left my bike at her house for about 1.4hrs, came back fired the bike up ran around the block ran fine... parked the bike and waited for the female to dress (looooong wait) got on the bike and was about to ride, listened to the idle and noticed a hesitation in the engine every so often, I knew I had a problem... I rode the bike 1/2 mile, bike died, and basically stayed dead... got back to my friends house looked at everything, all looked good... called my buddy he said the carb might be dirty, but he just cleaned it in sept, so the only other thing I can think of is the gasoline I purchased...

So my question to everyone here... what do I do, I fell an empty void in my soul without a bike...

If I have to clean the carbs, please link to FYI (I have searched and found nothing helpful about cleaning or taking apart)

I have seen a post that said check the tubes (which I will as soon as I get to her house Friday)

I am also going to get a new rubber tube for the carb air vac, one of mine popped off (left front side) and it seemed short since I couldnt put it back on, so I'll get a new tubes and make it longer so it's not super tight...

What else?

Also, I believe the bike runs LEAN... I have a blue elbow coming out of the engine, bike shoots off blue flames when rpm is lowering and during shutoff with a PUFF, bike has a HD exhaust with white porceline (or looks) covering the point where the exhaust attaches to the header?

Btw, names Alan from Chicago

I actually always run it on prime, and just for shits and giggles I switched it to "res" to see if it fires up (didn't) and then tried "on" and no go either.

I know about the one week thing, still didn't help me

Vers, as I said, the carb was just cleaned, I barely put 950 miles on it, would it get that bad already? I dont have a problem cleaning it if I was at my house... note... this is a friends house... (girl, hint hint...)

check your vac line for gas, since you run in prime, go ahead and take it off.  plug the vac port on the carb.  a screw in a short bit of hose will do.

Take what off? which vac port... lol pics would do a MARVELOUS job... sorry new to bikes ask me about computers and I'll give you an answer

As far as the jerk goes, I believe it's a back fire, right after it goes past that initial loss of power I get a pop...  drain the carb (as in disconnect and crink the hose and run the engine?) pour in seafoam, leave overnight (with almost full tank of gas or no?)

Sorry, I want to get specifics before I go off and start doing things I know nothing about Plus I dont want to seafoam my friends neighborhood, they'll get mad

jlsmedic wrote on 03/17/10 at 00:34:20:

yea, shame savage is not a hog, it's more like a premature pig

See, I don't know which plug I should be pulling, also the vac tube is off, gotta get that fecker on first

Hey dude,

Welcome to the forum, but sorry for your trobles.
You said " right after it goes past that initial loss of power I get a pop... " .  This sounds to me like your carb is having moments of fuel starvation which leads to a very lean condition and results in power loss and backfire.
Possible causes are:
-Petc0ck is failing and intermitantly shutting off fuel.
-vac line from petc0ck needs replacing, and causes the same type of issue mentioned above
-carburetor passageways for all fuel circuits, but primarily the pilot jet circuit, are clogged or clogging.

I know you said the carb was cleaned just 950 miles ago, but HOW WELL was it cleaned ?  There are several very tiny passageways in the carb that must be clear for it to function properly and if they are clogged then it makes your day very frustrating.
I suggest that you remove the carb and TOTALLY disassemble it (except for the butterfly valve/rod/throttle control assembly, since this is not involved with the problem) .
Take out every single screw, jet, washer, oring, spring, etc and check them for damage or crud, and clean them well.
Get yourself a couple of cans of carb cleaner spray and some tiny wires, like safety wire, and make sure every hole in the carb is clear.  

There is a brass tube that comes down into the float bowl from the carb body and it has a tiny hole in the very end and a wire should go in about 2" if it is clear, and it also has 2 tiny holes on each side of the tube.
There is an air intake on the front (filter side) of the carb that goes into the pilot system; check/clear.
Take off the little 3 screw cover on the right side of the carb and carefully remove the diaphram & spring.  Going into the hole inside just slightly off center to the right is a hole that needs to be check/clear.  Some carbs have a small jet in there and some don't.  If yours does then check/clear the jet.  This hole is connected with the choke assembly/hole, so pull out the assembly and check/clear.
There is also a very tiny hole that is located where the diaphram rubber tab is and it goes from there into the carb throat on the engine side of the carb.
When you remove the top of the carb and large diaphram/slide assembly, you will find several holes going down into the carb body.  These are larger than the others we have checked.  There will be at least one jet in a hole but usually 2 jets are installed; one large and one small.  check/clear.
Go through every hole you can find and check/clear by spraying the carb cleaner through all of them.  If the spray does not come out somewhere in the carb then it is clogged.  Sometimes when you spray into a hole it will come out in more than 1 place.  
WEAR FACE PROTECTION WHEN SPRAYING...it is not unusual for the spray to come back on your face.

The pilot air adjusting screw, when removed, should have a little spring, washer and oring on the pointy end.  If not then check in the hole and remove them.  They are easy to loose so  be careful.  They must all be on the screw or it will not function properly.  The oring will get hard and break with age so check that it is good and pliable.   check/clear the hole.  Spray it deep inside; there is more than 1 exit.

Of course, when spraying you need to have the little red tube on the spray nozzle for getting the spray into the little holes.  I'm sure you know but I'm just covering the bases.

Reassemble with  good clean parts/gasket/orings and it should work for you.
Set the pilot air adjusting screw (right side of carb) at 1.5 turns from full closed position.   full closed by turning clockwise until it is seated...do it gently so not to damage the brass screw, then turn counterclockwise for 1.5 turns.  
This is a starting point for tuning the low throttle range of idle-1/4 throttle.  Turn CW & CCW 1/4 turn at a time to find the point where you get the highest rpm, then readjust the idle adjusting screw for proper idle rpm.


I think I have covered it, but if you have more questions just ask.

If you need jets or bowl gasket then PM me, or if you have a good local dealer get them there.  If they have them in stock then its quick and easy.  If they need to order ask how long to get them.  If its 2-3 wks then PM me for them.

If you want to do the white spacer mod then we can go over that.  There is another post here somewhere where I explained that procedure and tools required.

kerosene wrote on 03/16/10 at 22:26:58:

  I've been motorcycling for over 40 years I never run the carb dry,I put Sea Foam in the gas it keeps he inside of the carb lubed.You don't want the inside of carb to dry out.

LANCER wrote on 03/17/10 at 05:25:34:


Lance thanks for the info

I should mention, Friday is the latest the bike can be there, and I dont know anyone with a van/pickup... if i can get it to my house (40miles) and work on it there I'll be glad to take my time, but it's a time constraint.

I really am wondering if its as simple as that vac line being off, it's very possible. I'll shoot down there tonight and try to get it on, it's a simple fix and if it gets me home to work on the rest I'll take it ANY day.

As far as how good was it cleaned, I'd expect nothing less than detail from my buddy, his wife rode the bike before me and he cleaned it again when he was doing the plug replacement.

Can I make a request? Can somone take a picture of a carb and label everything, this would be useful for all the newbs that don't know what things are (yes I am aware of the carb cleaning post) I am referring to while it's on the bike still, which tube is which and so froth, would make it easier

LANCER wrote on 03/17/10 at 06:00:24:

thought about that too, but I watched my headlight as I tried to fire her up, it barely changed color from the bright yellow/almost white, battery doesn't look drained at all.

Routy wrote on 03/17/10 at 05:52:20:


I think it was crap, looked a couple years old, 68$ fix for the new battery, less trouble and drama, worth the money